Melbourne's 19th consecutive grand prix will take place this weekend, but the future of the Australian Grand Prix remains in limbo, subject to highly confidential negotiations with Formula One's controversial strongman Bernie Ecclestone.

The F1 boss has ruled the multi-billion-dollar business with an iron fist for 30 years, accumulating a $3 billion personal fortune in the process.

Victorian taxpayers have paid a high price to stage the grand prix year on year - $56 million in 2012 and $50 million in 2013 - and current negotiations between Ecclestone and the Australian Grand Prix Corporation have been ongoing for some time.

Ecclestone has famously said that he would only negotiate with one man, the corporation's chairman and close friend Ron Walker.

Mr Walker has led negotiations on behalf of Victorian taxpayers for decades, but questions linger over whether his proximity to Ecclestone represents a conflict of interest.

With Ecclestone set to face a German court in April over allegations he paid a $44 million bribe to German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky, anti-grand prix campaigners say Mr Walker is too close to the F1 supremo to be negotiating on behalf of taxpayers.

Mr Walker is himself a highly successful businessman and a former treasurer of the federal Liberal Party.

Bernie Ecclestone: a controversial figure

His rise began in the late 1970s when he bought Formula One's television and marketing rights, and has built Formula One into one of the world's most profitable sports events.

In 1997, it emerged the British government argued in Brussels for Formula One to be exempt from a ban on tobacco advertising after Ecclestone's sponsorship of the Labour party, which was later returned.

In 2005, Ecclestone was forced to apologise after repeatedly making sexist comments about women racing drivers.

In 2009, he praised German dictator Adolf Hitler for being "able to get things done" and said close friend Max Mosley, son of British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, "would do a super job" as a British prime minister.

He co-founded Crown Casino, a major beneficiary of the Grand Prix. His own wealth has been estimated by Business Review Weekly at $775 million.

Amid the hoopla of the grand prix launch, Mr Walker has tried to distance himself from the Ecclestone scandal.

"They're his issues not ours, we're negotiating directly with his team and we'll get a successful outcome but we're not rushing anything, we're not blinking," he said.

Mr Walker is not involved in the Ecclestone litigation, but the two men are close.

"Bernie Ecclestone and Ron Walker are very close and still are, they're old colleagues and friends," Ecclestone's authorised biographer Tom Bower said.

In a personal response to a protester's letter at the end of 1999, Mr Walker wrote that Ecclestone was his "dearest friend".

"I for one am proud to call Bernie Ecclestone my dearest friend, and friends like him are hard to find in life," he said.

"As a trustee of his family trust, at his direction I distribute tens of millions of dollars to the most needy causes in the world each year."

We are of the clear view that [Ron Walker] should be replaced by someone independent of Bernie Ecclestone because he has admitted he is a friend of his and there have been stories that he has assisted Mr Ecclestone in selling part of his business

Peter Logan, Save Albert Park

While chief negotiator for the Australian Grand Prix in 1999, Mr Walker helped Ecclestone find a buyer for $712 million worth of Formula One shares.

The shares were soon on-sold for a large profit.

Critics of the Australian Grand Prix say Mr Walker benefited from the sale and he should not be in charge of negotiations on behalf of taxpayers.

"Out of that it was reported that Mr Walker was paid a success fee," Peter Logan from the group Save Albert Park said.

"We are of the clear view that he should be replaced by someone independent of Bernie Ecclestone, because he has admitted he is a friend of his and there have been stories that he has assisted Mr Ecclestone in selling part of his business."

The ABC's 7.30 program asked Mr Walker for an interview to respond to allegations he is too close to Ecclestone to be negotiating on behalf of taxpayers.

However, Mr Walker said he was too sick to do an interview. His office responded in general terms.

"It is well known Mr Walker has a professional working relationship with Mr Ecclestone," a statement said.

"At no time has that professional working relationship impacted on Mr Walker's decision-making in relation to the Australian Grand Prix and he has at all times acted in the best interests of all Victorians."

Protesters question Walker's role and Napthine's figures

From the beginning, protests against staging the grand prix in Melbourne's Albert Park were steamrolled at the behest of the government and the Grand Prix Corporation.

The protesters now sense the wind may have finally changed in their favour as they question whether it is appropriate that Mr Walker continues to lead the negotiations.

"When there is such large amounts of money involved it would be better to have someone who is totally at arm's length to Formula One to do our negotiations on our behalf," Peter Goad, a spokesman for Save Albert Park, said.

"It seems unwise to continue to have Mr Walker to negotiate Formula One."

Many are also sceptical of figures provided for Victorian taxpayers over the years to justify their annual outlay.

Premier Denis Napthine says 450 million people watch the grand prix around the world, figures that Mr Logan says are "rubbish".

"That is the total viewing audience for the whole year for every race," he said.

"So the Melbourne race, we've estimated that it's around 10 to 15 million. They know the figures and they are not telling the truth."

Mr Logan also questions the Premier's statement that 2013 crowds over four days totalled 320,000.

"The Grand Prix Corporation, when we took them through our tribunal here - [freedom of information] - they said they do not know how many people attend the grand prix," he said.

"Their ticket sales figures show that there's probably only around 70,000 tickets sold.

"So if the place is nearly empty for the first two days, that crowd number is probably overstated by 100,000 to 150,000."

Mr Walker's office said the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has not found fault with its estimates of attendance figures, but there was no response regarding television audience figures being overinflated.

The only independent and peer-reviewed cost-benefit analysis of the grand prix was released by the auditor-general in 2007, authored by the highly respected Dr Peter Abelson.

"The Victorian Government pays a large but unknown amount of money to the Formula One Grand Prix Corporation," Dr Abelson said.

"Certainly, not with all major events, but a word of caution that they're not always quite the bonanza that they seem to be.

"Claims were made that it would generate tourism at other times of the year, but there was no evidence base."

For all the public bravado, it has emerged the Victorian Government too is beginning to waver.

Grand Prix contracts always run for five years, but that is not what is being discussed now behind closed doors.

"It has been suggested that we take a shorter contract, which would suit the Government because they're not committing themselves to the long term," Mr Walker has said.

"Two years is a good way to do business because it doesn't lock us in."